Korf TA-AF9 Series II tonearm Korf tonearms aren’t that well known. But just because they don’t have a following going back years doesn’t mean they need time to get things right. Alexey Korf has built an arm with a reputation which deserves attention, and has built a very strong following, and in relatively short order. […]
Xavian Grande Unica speakers Since 1994, the Czech Republic has been home to Xavian Electronics, a loudspeaker company led by designer Roberto Barletta. Formerly based in Prague and now in Hostivice, Xavian manufactures its loudspeakers in-house using solid wood. The Natura series is inspired by the Czech countryside, and one of the models is the […]
Origin Live Ground Anchor turntable grounding device We are growing accustomed to the fact that it is beneficial to a hi-fi system to deal with any noise that comes in on the mains or is put onto the mains by other system components. And there are many products that help deal with that, such as […]
The Wand Dark-Light tonearm Pick-up arms are wonderful things. They do an amazing job of supporting a signal generator over an fast-moving undulating groove while ensuring that the stylus reading the groove maintains good (enough) contact with the groove walls in order to extract all the musical information contained within it. Approaches to achieving that […]
Oephi Ascendance 2 speakers Back in 2022, the Ascendance model name marked the access point to Oephi’s ecosystem of speakers and cables, a ground zero crucially assembled to express the Danish company’s deeply embedded ‘sonic purity’ values at an ‘accessible price’. These core values in turn were further refined to great effect by the Transcendence […]
Raidho X2t 25th Anniversary Edition speakers Sit down in front of these Raidhos and all you see is the slim front baffle and maybe a few degrees of the cabinet flank, it’s a deceptive design that appears to be a lot smaller than it actually is and that must make it all the more appealing […]
Grado Signature S750 headphones Direct communications from the editor of this fine site are quite rare things; quite gratifyingly so from my perspective. Products get commissioned, the review is written and some time later, the sordid business of payment is sorted. It was a surprise therefore when I received a message from Jason inquiring if […]
Clearaudio Compass turntable, arm & cartridge I have been around audio as a consumer, retailer and reviewer for a very long time but this is my first encounter with any product from Clearaudio, a company founded in Germany in 1978. From that time the company has built a very impressive product portfolio, centred around turntables, […]
iFi iDSD Phantom DAC streamer headphone amp On a wet night in January iFi launched its most ambitious digital to analogue converter to date in one of the towers on London’s Tower Bridge, it was a novel location which will have helped get journalists out into the rain, fortunately the appearance of a recording industry […]
Gold Note IS-1000 MkII Deluxe streaming amplifier Italian brand Gold Note have certainly been making waves over the last decade. From its beginnings back in 2011, this once-boutique brand now produces a full range of equipment that covers all bases, from vinyl and digital replay to loudspeakers. I also spotted some rather natty-looking racks in […]
Isol-8 Powerline Extreme AC power distribution block When I first started out in hi-fi, if someone suggested shelling out a grand or more on a fancy mains block, I’d have laughed at them. Things have moved on from there though, and we now accept that to get the best out of a system, you need […]
Monitor Audio Anthra W12 subwoofer When I heard that Monitor Audio were sending an Anthra W12 subwoofer for review I was intrigued, but slightly hesitant, as I’ve had mixed experiences with subwoofers playing music before and was not sure if I would like it, but that was a few years ago and things have moved […]